Eddie Izzard: comedian is set to play Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s iconic character in new BBC adaptation of Sherlock

Eddie Izzard has reportedly been cast as the lead in yet another new drama based on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock.

The comedian, 60, who studied at the University of Sheffield, will join a multitude of other actors who have played the character before.

Benedict Cumberbatch previously starred as Sherlock in the BBC series, while Jonny Lee Miller played the detective in the CBS’ series, Elementary and Robert Downey Jr took on the role in the movie series followed by Henry Cavil in the recent Enola Holmes, Netflix series.

After becoming well known for being a comedian who cross-dressed, Eddie Izzard began identifying as a gender-fluid trans woman. Two years ago, she announced her pronouns on an episode of Sky Arts show, Portrait Artist Of The Year, where she publicly said she wanted to be referred to as “she and her.”

Although Eddie has been a successful comedian and actor, she has more recently turned her hand to politics and is currently campaigning to become Labour’s MP candidate in Sheffield.

As a long-term supporter of Labour, she has appeared in their party’s political broadcasts, attended political rallies, campaigned and spoken highly of leaders and their views.

Now whilst Eddie has been working on her campaign, she has also been in talks regarding her next potential acting project, which could be the big budget TV drama series, Sherlock’s Daughter.

This new adaptation has been created by Starlings Television, and is written by Brendan Foley, who is offering a new take on the world’s greatest detective.

The murder-mystery, TV drama will follow a young American woman, Amelia, who after the mysterious murder of her mother, travels to London to track down her biological father -  Sherlock Holmes. But he is not the person that she was expecting.

Most recently, Netflix has brought Sherlock Holmes to our screens in the form of Superman’s Henry Cavil in Enola Holmes. This adaptation follows the famous detective’s little sister as she tries to solve her own murder-mystery cases.

The Conan Doyle Estate filed a lawsuit against Netflix over the Enola Holmes films, which starred Millie Bobby Brown in the title role. They claimed that the films violated copyright as they depicted Sherlock Holmes as having emotions, and this matter was later settled out of court.

Sherlock’s Daughter was put into development before the Netflix movies about Sherlock Holmes’s younger sister were announced. Starlings Entertainment’s Chris Philip, said that he believes the success of Enola Holmes on Netflix will help Sherlock’s Daughter gain a fan-following faster.

The filming for Sherlock’s Daughter is expected to start filming in 2023.

Eddie Izzard is next set to appear at the Greenwich House Theater, in New York - where she will perform Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations from 9 December 2022 - 22 January 2023.